There, in her den, lay pompous luxury,
Stretch'd out at length; no vice could boast such high
And genial victories as she had won;
Of which proud trophies there at large were shown,
Besides small states and kingdoms ruined
Those mighty monarchies that had o'erspread
The spacious earth, and stretch'd their conquering arms
From pole to pole, by her ensnaring charms
Were quite consum'd; there lay imperial Rome,
That vanquish'd all the world, by her o'ercome;
Fetter'd was th' old Assyrian lion there;
The Grecian leopard, and the Persian bear;
With others numberless, lamenting by,
Examples of the power of luxury.
Thomas May
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